Dark Eagles: A History of the Top Secret U.S. Aircraft

By the 1990s, the article speculated, a Mach 4, 200,000-foot aircraft could be developed. The aircraft would relay its image and radar intelligence data via satellite in real time. It would be powered by an advanced turbo- ramjet engine — a J58 with a ramjet surrounding it. The airframe would be an aluminum-beryllium alloy. The aircraft would be delta-shaped, similar to the X-24B lifting body. The main problem was cost — the engine alone would cost $1 billion to develop. By the year 2000, Lockheed estimated it would be possible to build a Mach 7, 250,000-foot aircraft which used supersonic-cruise ramjet (scramjet) propulsion. [740]

At the same time, the air force was looking at advanced bomber and cruise missile designs. One area of study was penetration altitude. Since the mid-1960s, when the SA-2 SAM had chased them out of the stratosphere, bombers had gone in at low altitude. The A-12/SR-71 showed a high-speed and high-altitude profile could work. Some wanted to use a very high, very fast attack profile, harkening back to the B-12 studies. One possibility looked at was a hypersonic cruise missile. It would be capable of Mach 6 at altitudes of 150,000 to 200,000 feet.[741]

At this time, it was assumed that any future Black airplane would rely on ever higher speeds and altitudes to survive. It was not commonly understood that stealth and high speeds were incompatible.

Rumors of such high-speed projects continued to circulate during the 1970s and early 1980s. The only published account was a brief report that Lockheed had, by 1982, already flown a Mach 6 research aircraft.[742] This was also the time the Have Blue was flown, the existence of stealth was unveiled, and the stories about the stealth fighter grew.

In February 1985, the project gained a name. The Department of Defense issued a budget document, a declassified version of the P-1 weapons procurement document for fiscal year 1986. Under 'Strategic Reconnaissance' there was an entry titled 'Aurora.' The project would receive $80.1 million in fiscal year 1986, and $2.272 billion in fiscal year 1987. This was an unusual amount—$80.1 million was a very small amount for an aircraft development program, while $2.272 billion was very large. Such a sudden growth was also remarkable. It was speculated that the Aurora entry should have been removed before the document was declassified. It was also speculated that Aurora was the B-2 or F-117A program. Soon, another possibility began to be discussed.[743]

On January 28, 1986, space shuttle Challenger was destroyed during launch, killing the seven crewmembers. In the wake of the tragedy, there was discussion of possible future shuttle replacements. These centered on single-stage-to-orbit vehicles. They would take off from a runway, then accelerate to Mach 25 speed and go into orbit. The technology necessary would be tested in the X-30 National Aero Space Plane program. Some remembered cases where White projects had Black counterparts. Examples included the White SR-71 and Black A-12 Oxcart. Another was the Hubble Space Telescope. This scientific instrument was similar in design to the Lockheed Big Bird photo reconnaissance satellite. If the X-30 was a White project, might the rumored superfast aircraft be its Black counterpart? Such a Black project, it was suspected, could have already cleared up some of the X-30's technological unknowns. It was also noted that the air force wished to retire the SR-71 fleet due to cost. It was presumed that an SR-71 replacement was in the wings.

AURORA

In early 1988, there were several articles on the alleged Aurora. On January 10, the New York Times reported that the air force was developing an aircraft able to reach Mach 5 (3,800 mph) and altitudes of over 100,000 feet. The aircraft would incorporate stealth technology to evade detection.

The article quoted one official as saying, 'With the SR-71, they know we're there but they can't touch us. With the new technology, they won't even know we're there.' The progress of the development effort, when it would become operational, and the specifications could not, the article said, be determined. Nor could the contractor be determined, although it noted Lockheed was reportedly building the F-19 stealth fighter.[744]

That same month, Armed Forces Journal published a financial analysis that indicated Lockheed's income far exceeded that which could be explained by the C-5B, C-141, or C-130 transport aircraft, TR-1 reconnaissance aircraft, P-3 antisubmarine aircraft, F-117A, or YF-22 stealth aircraft.

The article speculated this hidden income was from 'something very big — perhaps a very black program within a black program.' It was suggested that Lockheed was building a 'super-stealth' replacement for the SR-71 and that flight tests had begun in 1987.[745]

It is worth noting that neither of these articles used the term Aurora as the name for the super-high-speed aircraft. That was done by the third article, which was published in the February 1988 Gung- Ho magazine. It described Aurora as being fueled by methane and capable of Mach 7 (5,000 mph) and 250,000-foot altitudes. The aircraft was described as having a three-man crew and as being operational since the mid-1980s. It was also claimed that inflight refueling was done by special KC-135Qs. Among other things, the article quoted one official as saying, 'We are flight-testing vehicles that defy description. To compare them conceptually to the SR-71 would be like comparing Leonardo da Vinci's parachute design to the Space Shuttle.' A retired colonel was quoted as saying, 'We have things that are so far beyond the comprehension of the average aviation authority as to be really alien to our way of thinking.' Finally, a retired Lockheed engineer was reported as saying, 'Let's put it this way. We have things flying in the Nevada desert that would make George Lucas drool.'[746]

In 1989, an eyewitness came forward to claim, among other things, that he had seen Aurora close up while working at Groom Lake. He described it as fueled by liquid methane and requiring the entire three-mile runway at Groom Lake to take off. During takeoff, he said, 'it sounds like a continuous explosion.' Aurora was described as able to reach speeds of Mach 10 and altitudes of 250,000 feet.[747] Aurora was later described 'as an X-15 on steroids — fat and chunky with short stubby wings.'[748]

In 1989 and 1990, a number of reports began to appear that described a very loud, deep rumbling engine noise, sometimes punctuated by a one-hertz 'pulsing' sound. The aircraft also left a 'sausage-link-shaped' contrail. The first reported sighting occurred in July 1989, at about 3:00 A.M., near Edwards Air Force Base. The 'pulser,' as it became known, was reported to be flying at medium altitude and visible as a 'white glow.'

On October 18, 1989, another 'hearing' occurred during the early evening hours. The sound seemed to take off from North Base at Edwards. It was described as 'extremely loud, with a deep, throaty rumble' which shook houses sixteen miles away. People came into the streets trying to locate the source of the sound. No light or glow was seen, but the roar continued for about five minutes; it seemed to be heading north and climbing into the sky. One witness said, 'Your eyes tended to follow the noise; something was climbing at a very steep angle.' Local residents said the sound 'was like the sky ripping' and was unlike anything heard at Edwards for years.

One witness compared it to the Saturn 5 rocket engine tests of the 1960s.

A double sighting occurred on June 19, 1990, near Mojave, California, (in the Edwards area). The first occurred at 3:44 A.M., while the second was at 4:50 A.M. Both were headed to the northeast, and it was not clear if the sighting was of one aircraft twice or two different vehicles. There were eight separate reports of the 'pulser' from Mojave. All occurred between midnight and 5:00 A.M., and all the objects were headed northeast.

Similar sightings were also reported from central Nevada during 1989-90.

Again, it was a rumbling noise, with a one to two-hertz pulse rate and heard in the early morning hours. One Nevada sighting occurred on August 6, 1990. The aircraft was reported to have left the Groom Lake range and overflown a small town. A witness said it was 'the loudest thing I've ever heard. It wasn't breaking the sound barrier, but it was rattling the windows!'[749]

FIRST ARTICLES

The sighting reports sparked the interest of the technical press, and Aviation Week and Space Technology began a series of articles on the subject.

The first appeared in the December 18, 1989, issue, against the background of the fall of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe. Much of the article was a discussion of the role of Black development in the post-Cold War world.

It did note the sighting reports and quoted 'officials close to the program' as saying, 'Aurora is so black, you won't see anything about it [in public] for 10 or 15 years.'[750]